Clouds (Wolken)

Artist

General Description

Clouds, mist, hints of mountains, and winding rivers suggest the mysterious space of traditional Chinese landscape painting. Sigmar Polke used a story by French writer Marguerite Yourcenar as a starting point for Clouds. In that tale, a Chinese artist created painted worlds that were more beautiful and powerful than reality. His assistant disparaged those who did not value the master's art, saying, "These people are not the kind to lose themselves in a painting." Like the Chinese artist's work, Polke's painted surface, with its swirling colors, powdered pigment blown into wet resin, and scatterings of what may be gold, silver, or even intergalactic dust, exists as an ever-changing magical world.